QuitLine Helping Smokers

Resolutions To Kick Habit

HARTFORD — Tobacco users are encouraged to keep their New Year’s resolutions to quit by calling the Connecticut QuitLine for free help at 866-END-HABIT (866-363-4224). Quitting tobacco is among the most common New Year’s resolutions.

“Celebrate a healthy New Year! Make a New Year’s resolution to quit using tobacco, and call our Connecticut QuitLine to get the support you need to be successful,” stated Connecticut Department of Public Health Commissioner J. Robert Galvin, MD, MPH. “Quitting smoking is one of the most effective things you can do to prevent heart and lung disease.”

By calling the Connecticut QuitLine for help today, a professionally trained Quit Coach can:

*Prepare participants for their quit date

*Help them design an individualized quit plan

*Provide tips on smoke-proofing their living environment

*Offer techniques on handling social situations that may involve tobacco

*Assist participants with seeking support from friends and families

*Provide information regarding medications to help with withdrawal symptoms

Many Quit Coaches are former smokers themselves.

More than 2,800 calls have been placed to the Connecticut QuitLine over the last year. The QuitLine offers free information and cessation support for all Connecticut residents who want to quit tobacco.

The Connecticut QuitLine is open seven days a week from 8 am to midnight (after hours callers can leave a message to get a return call the next day).

More than 500,000 adults in Connecticut are cigarette smokers, and every year in Connecticut, more than 5,400 people die from smoking-related diseases. Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States and in Connecticut, and the #1 cause of heart disease is smoking.

Smoking is also responsible for more than 90 percent of all lung cancer deaths.